It Was a Wedding to Remember
by SunshineShipper
Summary: Then, she's turning to look at the seat next to her because that's where Rhys has moved to. He's staring at her eyes, then moving down to the dress and she wanted to smack that haughty grin off his mouth. She was slightly embarrassed that he had to see her like this. God, the night kept getting worse. "Don't you clean up nice."


It was almost 11 pm and Fiona was staring down into a glass of an alcoholic beverage, one she didn't know the name for because August had invented it himself. Part of her wanted to decline it, but it had been a long couple of hours and she just wanted to drink away her problems. And she definitely wanted to drink until she forgot she was in the ugliest dress possible. Why did she agree to be the bridesmaid when she knew that this is what she'd be stuck wearing for the whole day? She really needed to talk to Janey about her taste in style.

She took the first sip of her drink and immediately regretted it. She knew Pandora wasn't the place to find a good drink, but this was pushing it. She sat the glass back down and pushed it to the corner, she wasn't planning drinking that again.

"It's not good?"

The sound of Sasha's voice makes her look up. She smiles while cleaning glasses with a rag, "It's not good at all. Tastes like dirt."

"I'm beginning to think that's one of the ingredients," she gives a small wink that Fiona smiles at before she walks to the back.

Then she's turning to look at the seat next to her because that's where Rhys has moved to. He's staring at her eyes, then moving down to the dress and she wanted to smack that hauty grin off his mouth. She was slightly embarrassed that he had to see her like this. God, the night kept getting worse.

"Don't you clean up nice," the grin is somewhat smaller than the one before, but still made her shudder.

"Is that a question?" she asks while watching him order a drink.

"No, I think you look great. Purple is so your color. And that big bow on your back," he gives an okay sign with his fingers, "Very nice."

She rolls her eyes, "I'm burning this dress later."

"Of course you are, but seriously you do look amazing. I can't remember the last time I saw you without a hat on."

"That's because you rarely did," she was about to say something about not getting too fond of the thought of her without a hat, but then August pushes his glass against the table and she forgets. The alcohol burned going down and it left him with an expression that she could only take as disgust. It was enough to crack the frown off her face, "It's not the best, is it? It's a homemade drink from August, so pretend you like it when he's around."

"Noted," he wipes the taste from his lips and that's when she realizes that he's wearing a tuxedo. Not the usual one she sees him in back at his office, but a more casual one. No tie and the first button is undone revealing the blue lines on his chest. She had to shake off the thought of wanting to run her finger over it, but then another thought, the one about liking this side of him, came up. She did, as rare as seeing it was. It was never easy rebuilding a company from the ground up. It made him seem more cautious than before and maybe she missed the old him. The guy who took chances. That's what started their friendship, right?

She finally notices he was staring back at her without a smile and the look in his eyes made her pull away, "So, what'd you think of the wedding? I thought they did a great job decorating the Purple Skag. Especially since this is the least romantic place I've ever been to."

She nods as a way of agreement, then looks throughout the place. Old lights hanging all over and multiple colored flowers thrown around. Music playing from a jukebox that everyone was dancing to, whether slow or upbeat. And a cheap wedding cake sitting forgotten in the back. Probably waiting for Athena and Janey to return. It looked better than any other time she can remember.

"It was nice. I still don't know why they wanted to have the service and the reception here, but I guess it's cheaper. You know what Janey always says."

"Weddings are expensive," he answers for her before glancing around the room, "Where are they anyway?"

"They decided to get out of their wedding outfits and change into something more comfortable. They'll be back any minute now. In the meantime, I guess I'm stuck with y-"

"Rhys," she was interrupted by Sasha's voice coming from behind the bar and his smile returned once he saw her. A little less than when he first sat down, though, but enough to cause an ache she tried to ignore.

"Hey, look at you. Also in the same… ugly dress," she stutters out and she wanted to punch him.

"I thought you said you liked it," she pouts, Rhys takes the time to whisper out an apology before turning back to Sasha. Seeing Sasha made an unusual giddy grin spread on his face and she didn't understand why she felt so distressed by it.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you. How's Atlas?"

He shrugs, "It's still a small company, but I think I'm doing well with it. You should stop by sometimes. I think you'd like all the new weapons. Fiona here has stopped by a few times."

Fiona can't find the right words to respond with, so she says the first thing she can think of and it was so quiet that she was surprised that he could hear it, "I'm starting to wonder why."

Now he's glaring at her direction with a hurt look and his lips slightly open. She wants to push it closed with her finger, but at the same time she wants turn away. She settles for the second one.

"Well, I have to get back to cleaning the back. Save me a dance?" she asks. Once he nods she leaves them alone. Things go silent now leaving her feel like she should've stayed quiet. She didn't mean it, she wishes she could say that. Instead, she picks up her glass and gulps down the rest of the drink. This changes Rhys' expression and now he's shocked by this.

"It gets better after a while," she looks toward him apologetically. Now he looks confused, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

As if on cue, a slow song plays in the distance and she notices everyone seems to be pairing off. Everyone except them. She's ready to explain why she's apologizing and why she said it was a mistake to visit him, but then he holds out his hand and she thinks it might be a joke.

"Seriously? You and me?" she expects him to tug at her hand to pull her up and she'd try to push away because this wasn't what they did. They don't slow dance to this kind of music and the only time she's been that close to him was when they were tied up months ago.

However, "It's always you and me who end up together, so why shouldn't we have a little fun tonight?" is what he says that makes her slip her hand into his and pull herself off the stool, "Besides, I came here for you, so…"

It wasn't something she could answer, so she didn't even try. She presses one hand onto his shoulder and the other one fits into his hand while his other seemed to stay glued to her lower back bringing her so close to his body that she felt his heartbeat increase. Yet another silence came between while they listened to the music and ignored the people staring at them. With their overly happy smiles and the whispers, she knew what they conversations were. That thought made her feel worse than the way he was watching her.

"What?"

He blinks, once and again, "Do you ever think about being here? On your wedding day?"

"Maybe. I mean- Not really. There's not a lot of eligible sane men on Pandora, so I don't think you'll be dancing at my wedding any time soon."

"Right, right. But, uh, what about someone that's not from Pandora?" he asks like it's the most difficult thing in the world and there's something vulnerable in his voice. Maybe she knew what he meant, maybe she wanted to respond with something she's been holding in since the vault. Maybe, but instead she sticks with her usual sarcastic comments.

"Vaughn? He's not really my type. He's cool and all-"

His eyebrow raises while there's a playful smirk, "I didn't mean Vaughn."

"Hm. I know, Rhys. I know," without another word, she lets her head fall onto his shoulder. He pulls her closer, wraps both arms around her waist, and she tries to remain calm. The song ends soon crashing reality back to them, "I guess since we had our dance, you'll be dancing with Sasha next, huh?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" his voice is as serious as it's ever been, but he's giving her a soft smile that she isn't sure about, "Fiona, I've been through some horrible things these past few months. There's been bad things I've seen on Pandora. There's also been some good, but the best thing to happen is our friendship. Not mine and Sasha's," he points a finger at her, "Yours and mine. Don't forget that, okay?"

She hesitates before she nods because that's all she can right now.

"Good. Now let's go get a real drink. I feel like I'm going to need it to get through the rest of this night."


End file.
